Awards season is definitely upon us, with the Gotham awards and Independent Spirit nominations kicking things off. Now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlist of ten animated and live-action shorts that will be considered for Oscar nominations. Three to five nominees will be selected from each category, and the nominations will be announced along with all the other Oscar nominations on January 25 2011.

Check out the full list of c0ontenders after the break. The 83rd Academy Awards will take place on February 27, 2011, hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. Read More »

I’m a sucker for the animation of Nick Park. Though it was good to see him working in features, I think that Wallace and Gromit are much better off anchoring short films. Park’s most recent short with the man and dog pair, his first film project with the characters since 2005’s Curse of the Were-Rabbit and their first new short since 1995(!), is A Matter of Loaf and Death. The short aired in the UK and Europe over the last Christmas (i.e., if you’re not in the US this is old stuff) but will finally be getting a real US release via DVD next week.

We’ve got a clip from that, and for something new, check out the trailer for a very pretty German short film called Urs, after the break. Read More »